FG Bans Use of “Dr” Title by Honorary Degree Holders
By Ekanem ASUQUO
The Federal Government has banned recipients of honorary degrees from using the title “Dr” before their names in official, academic, or professional settings, warning that offenders will be treated as engaging in academic fraud.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, announced the policy on Wednesday in Abuja while briefing State House correspondents after a Federal Executive Council meeting.
Alausa said the decision was aimed at addressing what he described as the growing abuse of honorary degrees.
He said, “The recent trend we’ve seen with the award of honorary degrees has revealed a growing abuse and politicisation of this academic privilege.”
According to him, honorary degrees are increasingly being used for political patronage and financial gain rather than recognition of genuine contributions to society.
He added, “We’ve seen awards being used for political patronage, for financial gain, as well as the conferral of awards on serving public officials, which, as part of the ethics of honorary degree awards, should not happen.”
Alausa also condemned the practice of honorary degree holders presenting themselves as academic doctors.
“Misrepresentation of honorary degrees as earned academic credentials shall be considered academic fraud and subject to legal and reputational consequences,” he said.
Under the new policy, recipients of honorary degrees are prohibited from using “Dr” as a prefix. Instead, they must clearly indicate the honorary nature of the award after their names.
He gave examples such as “Chief Louis Clark, D.Lit. (Doctor of Literature, Honoris Causa)” and “Mrs Miriam Adamu, LL.D. Honoris Causa,” noting that the format is designed to reflect the non-academic nature of the award.
Alausa further explained that only four categories of honorary degrees are now permitted: Doctor of Laws (LL.D), Doctor of Letters (D.Lit), Doctor of Science (D.Sc), and Doctor of Humanities (D.Arts).
He said universities without active postgraduate research programmes leading to PhD awards will no longer be allowed to confer honorary degrees.
According to him, “The proliferation of newer institutions awarding honorary doctorates without strong academic structures is part of what this policy seeks to correct.”
The minister added that the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC) will issue guidelines for full implementation across all universities.
He also said convocation ceremonies will be monitored and a national register of honorary degree recipients will be published annually to protect the integrity of academic qualifications.
Alausa stressed that the policy now has Federal Executive Council approval and is therefore binding nationwide.
